Pritzker says felon was unlucky to land in his back yard

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker says electronic monitoring of a suspect on pretrial release did not work in the case of a 10-time convicted felon who was arrested in the governor’s back yard.

Dwayne Milton, 46, was on electronic monitoring for a retail theft case when state police detained him at Pritzker’s Chicago residence on July 4th.

CWB Chicago reported that Milton’s Cook County criminal court history includes more than 60 cases, including felony convictions for burglary, retail theft and robbery.

When asked by The Center Square on Wednesday if he might have second thoughts about pretrial release in Illinois, Pritzker said there’s a reason the process involves a judge.

“A judge is in the best position with a prosecutor there, with a defense attorney there to make the decision about whether that person is a danger to the community or whether they should be released,” the governor said.

Pritzker said Cook County judges need to pay attention as they try to reform the electronic monitoring system.

“Should people get this kind of monitoring, how is that monitoring taking place, and is it being done well enough? It clearly in this case wasn’t,” the governor said.

Pritzker said it did not appear that Milton was targeting him, but he felt lucky to be protected by Illinois State Police.

“I think this is a person who landed in a very unlucky circumstance of choosing to jump a fence on my block that happened to be my fence,” Pritzker said.

Milton was charged with criminal trespass and an existing warrant for retail theft.

State Rep. Patrick Sheehan, R-Homer Glen, said the governor’s crime policies landed in his own back yard.

“If it wasn’t for the governor’s own security team, what happens if the accused burglar was going to victimize another family,” Sheehan told The Center Square.

Pritzker’s Republican challenger, Darren Bailey, the The Center Square the community is in danger because of the SAFE-T Act, which includes a provision that ended cash bail in Illinois.

“The community’s in danger because of the SAFE-T Act, and this situation proves it,” Bailey said.